Compared with participants who never consumed tea during the past 12 months, the HRs for all daily consumers were 0.92 (95% CI: 0.88 - 0.95) for IHD and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.82 - 0.99) for MACE.

The inverse associations of daily tea consumption with both outcomes appeared to be stronger among participants who reported longer years of tea consumption.

The associations were similar across subgroups stratified according to age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity and prevalent hypertension (all P values for interaction >0.05).

Significant differences in association with IHD and MACE across strata were observed for the region (P values for interaction: 0.006 for IHD and <0.001 for MACE), with stronger inverse associations among participants who resided in rural regions.

Stronger inverse associations were also observed among participants with BMI <24 kg/m2 for MACE (P value for interaction: 0.012) and those without diabetes at baseline for IHD (P value for interaction: 0.004).

Conclusion

In a large prospective cohort of Chinese adults, daily tea consumption was associated with 8% relative risk reduction in IHD, compared to never drinking tea. These findings confirm the protective effect of tea consumption on IHD.